A Friend to the Rescue
by SilverFlameoftheWindScar
Summary: Ichigo saves the gang from the Menos Grande, but Uryu can't get to him to keep his sword from overloading with power. As Ichigo's blade shifts and changes, inflicting mass amounts of pain on the Substitute Shinigami, who'll save him when no one else can?


A Friend to the Rescue

One-Shot

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BLEACH!!!!!

Full Summary: What if Uryu _didn't_ release Ichigo's overflowing spirit power after he defeated the Menos Grande? Could he have died…or lived? This is my take on it.

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"The Menos… It's…leaving?" Rukia questioned from her position on the ground beside Urahara as she, the storeowner, and Kon watched the giant Hollow back away and into the gap it had created in the sky.

Ichigo's voice caught her attention as she looked to him. "I cleaned up your mess, Uryu… Least I could get is a 'thank you', right?" he asked rhetorically as he gazed at the Quincy. The archer merely looked at him as he slowly fell forward, landing on the ground. "Shit… I can't sta-" He never was able to finish his sentence as his Zanpaktou started glowing. "W-what?"

"It's…changing shape?" Rukia thought aloud as she looked up at Urahara, hoping for an answer. "Is it…because he released his spirit power?" she continued as she looked back to her partner in Hollow-slaying. Suddenly, the amount of power coming from the orange-haired teenager felt as if it was paralyzing her. "It…his body won't last this!" she shouted, hoping to get the hat-wearing man's attention to help him, the storeowner's Kidou preventing her from doing so.

"W-what's happening…? Why-ack…" Ichigo tried to ask but was cut off as it started to feel as if his body was trying to come apart at the seams, following his sword. A few pained noises came afterwards as the blade continued to glow and seem to rearrange. "S-stop…" he mumbled, unable to do much more as he felt his energy being drained.

"Kurosaki!" Uryu called, trying to get to the teen, hoping to help him in the way he had planned to defeat the Menos Grande. The bursts of power coming from the strawberry-christened teen's weapon weren't letting him get close enough. Calling his bow forth, he shot an arrow to the source, hoping to curb the energy being pushed against him long enough to be able to reach Ichigo. Instead, the opposite of what he wanted happened and the Zanpaktou _absorbed_ his arrow. "Dammit! I can't get to him!"

Ichigo felt a slight reprieve when the blue arrow was drawn into his sword, but it didn't last long, as his pained cry was testament to. He could only watch, cringe, grimace, and grunt as his weapon seemed to cry out as well. "L-let me…help…" He remembered Rukia telling him not too long ago that a Zanpaktou was a part of its Shinigami and that they had spirits to represent them and feelings, too. The fact that his blade looked and sounded to be in as much pain as he was happened to justify what she'd told him. Another thing she told him suddenly struck him. He asked softly, "Will you tell me your name?

"Guess…n-" He choked through another wave of pain rolling over him and it was all Ichigo could do to keep from screaming. He took that as a definite 'no' and felt another bout of agony sweep through his body. "If…knowing your name will…help you…then I ask again… Will you tell me…please?"

The level of agony ripping through him seemed to pause there, as if his Zanpaktou was thinking about its decision. The golden glow receded, the pain going with it. Ichigo rolled onto his side, getting a better view of what was going on, and he couldn't help but hope that his blade was going to give him its name. The coloring withdrew further, reaching the hand guard of the sword before suddenly blasting away from it and into the teen's chest.

Another shout of pain came from Ichigo as it blew him across the walkway, but he wouldn't release the Zanpaktou. Landing on his back, he felt as if his chest was going to collapse, emphasized by his rough and ragged breathing. A shadow was abruptly cast over him, and, slowly, his brown eyes fluttered halfway open. He found the shadow to be from a man wearing black coat that was wavering in a nonexistent breeze and an odd-looking pair of sunglasses. His hair reached his shoulders, black as his clothing, and, from what Ichigo's fuzzy sight could tell him, the man had a bit of a five o'clock shadow along his jaw.

"You asked my name, Kurosaki Ichigo," the man said, startling the teen slightly. Realizing that this dark-clothed man was the spirit of his Zanpaktou, Ichigo nodded before coughing, blood making a stream from the corner of his mouth and down his cheek to puddle on the ground. "My name…is Zangetsu."

"Zan…get…su…" he choked softly before a small smile curved his lips. "Pleased…to meet…you…" Zangetsu crouched on a knee beside him before placing a hand on his chest. "Wha…?" A couple of horrible cracking sounds came from his chest, causing him to grit his teeth to keep a pained cry in his throat.

"Likewise, Ichigo," the spirit returned, a very slight smile on his face as he helped the teen sit up, his sternum and ribs healed. "Also, Ichigo, I do _not_ have any silly sayings to go with my name like other Shinigami do. Personally, I believe that some of those are annoying while some make sense."

Ichigo gave a soft laugh before another cough brought out the rest of the blood stuck in his throat. "I suppose…yours would have been something along the lines of 'slice the moon' or something?" he asked.

"Possibly. Do not start saying it or I will say 'protect the strawberry' every time I see you," Zangetsu retorted, causing Ichigo's eye to twitch in annoyance. "At least I understand that your name means 'protector'. After all, the older brother is supposed to protect the younger siblings, correct, Ichigo?"

"Always, Zangetsu," the teen answered before noticing Rukia running to him quickly. Looking back to his Zanpaktou's spirit, he watched as the man started to fade.

"I shall return and I shall teach you, Ichigo, how to control my power…and your own," Zangetsu said before fading completely.

_I'll be waiting,_ Ichigo thought to Zangetsu with a smile as Rukia fussed all over him, wondering how he was still alive after what had happened. He merely answered, "A very good friend saved me."

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END! Well…I might make it a two-shot. I don't know yet…maybe a three. It's hard for me to leave any stories as one-shots… Defense is evidence of that. I can even leave it as a SEVEN-shot. XD

Oi, leave me a review on your way out, will ya?!


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